A look back at the Miami causeways and shoreline — before The Miami Herald

This 1930s postcard shows residences and a hotel on The Herald property

It’s a nostalgic time on the west end of the Venetian Causeway.

The Miami Herald printed its last newspapers  two weeks ago at 1 Herald Plaza, on the mainland between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways.

1939 view of downtown looking west.

Since then, office and news gathering operations have been moving to the news organization’s new home in Doral.

The final newsroom employees — and few from other departments — are scheduled to finish packing this week and all will be working in Doral by Friday afternoon.

Some time after that — it’s not clear when — property owner Genting plans to tear down The Herald building to make way for its planned resort (no, it won’t be a casino — at least not yet).

The Miami Herald in 2006.

The Herald’s been on the property for 50 some years. BelleIsleBlog has been trolling eBay again, finding old postcards that provide a view at the bayside property between the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways before The Herald built its offices and printing plant in the early 1960s. The Herald moved to One Herald Plaza from a location on South Miami Avenue in April 1963.

Another view of the Causeways, circa 1939.

The postcards show another Miami — when the port was off an undeveloped Watson Island, and the shoreline south of the MacArthur Causeway (then the County Causeway) featured huge oil tanks. Biscayne Island, the first on the way east on the Venetian Causeway, was barren, used as a landing strip.

The postcard above shows the Boulevard Shops (originally the Shrine Building when buit in 1930) on Biscayne Boulevard — and the Trinity Cathedral to the west of the Venetian Causeway entrance. Both remain, dwarfed by the city that grew up in the next 80-plus years.

Circus elephants cross the Venetian Causeway drawbridge, in 1960, with  Herald building property in background.

Construction on The Herald building began in 1961, and finished with the building opening on April 5, 1963.

Toll delay: SunPass will come to the Venetian Causeway by 2014

A year ago, Mike Bauman, who heads Miami-Dade County’s Causeway Division, said the Venetian Causeway toll collection would be converted to SunPass by fall of 2012.

This week, Belle Isle residents will learn why that hasn’t happened — along with a new goal of making the switch by the end of 2013.

Bauman, whose responsibilities include overseeing the Venetian and Rickenbacker causeways, said In January 2012 that he expected the Rickenbacker to convert to SunPass by June or July 2012, and that the Venetian would convert in the fall.

But he tells El Nuevo Herald’s Alfonso Chardy that contractor issues and efforts by Florida’s toll agencies to centralize back office billing operations caused the delays.

There are other details to be worked out. The county has said it wants to convert the Rickenbacker to an all-electronic toll system; on the Venetian, island residents have been told a cash lane will remain even after the switch to SunPass.

When the Venetian opened, tolls cost a dime.

Island residents will still be able to buy an annual $24 pass to use the causeway (it will be part of the SunPass programming), and commuters can pay $90 for annual use. But there is concern on the Venetian Islands that allowing everyone to pass through the toll with an electronic device would lead to more speeding on the residential causeway.

Bicycle activists also oppose removing the toll booths, which they said help hold down speeds on the causeways.

At a Venetian Islands Homeowner Association meeting last month, VIHA president Juergen Brendel asked Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora if tolls for non-residents should be raised to $3 to discourage traffic. Gongora said that was a Miami-Dade County decision. The current cash toll is $1.50.

It’s a long way from the days when the causeway opened, and the privately-owned bridge actually advertised to attract drivers to pay the toll for a shorter crossing to Miami Beach.

The SunPass issue is among the items to be discussed at Wednesday’s Belle Isle Residents Association meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. (Jan. 16) at Belle Plaza, 20 Island Ave.

With Venetian Causeway smoothed out, now comes Isles streetscape

So, finally, the Venetian Causeway is a nice smooth ride.

There is detail work to finish — medians aren’t done, not all the lights work, etc…. — but you can drive the road without wrecking your car suspension and jog the causeway without risking your life. You can tell that when it’s all complete, it’s going to look good.

And with that project reaching conclusion, the Streetscape work on Rivo Alto, DiLido and San Marino islands comes next. The good news — really good news — is the money is in place.

When the city of Miami Beach passed its budget on Sept. 27, it included $2.1 million to cover a shortfall in the Streetscape project.n  As a result, the project is expected to move forward. Bids are due on Oct. 31.

“Finally, it looks like the end of this year or early next year will see a ‘spade in the ground’ for a long-awaited Venetian Islands Streetscape Project,” Venetian Islands Homeowner Association president Jürgen Brendel said in an email to homeowners this week.

City Commissioner Deede Weithorn told homeowners during a meeting in June that she would get the additional $2.1 million included in the Miami Beach budget.

After the Sept. 27 vote, she told homeowners: “we are one step closer to bringing these much needed improvements to fruition.”

Venetian Causeway completion timetable slides to October

Five weeks ago, we reported that Miami-Dade County hoped to finish the Venetian Causeway construction project by mid-September.

The county now says the likely completion date is late October.

Why more delay in a project already nine months behind schedule?

Tropical Storm (and later hurricane) Isaac brought work to a halt. There were more suprises with underground utilities. We’ll let Miami-Dade spokeswoman Gayle Love give details:

“The Contractor has experienced further weather-related delays, as well as delays caused by the installation of the outfalls on Rivo Alto and San Marco, where unforeseen conflicts found during excavation led to the redesign of the configuration for the outfalls.  Additional delays were experienced during coordination with the City of Miami Beach for the connection of the irrigation meters to the water distribution lines in Belle Island, Rivo Alto, Di Lido and San Marino.”

Remember that workers spent days clearing equipment and debris just before Isaac moved through. Then Miami Beach Public Works had to deal with the water main break on Belle Isle on Venetian Way just west of Island Avenue.

Of course, once the main causeway work is done, construction will continue on the individual islands. And the city of Miami is building a storm-water pump stations and piping on San Marco Island, and Miami-Dade Water and Sewer is installing water mains on Biscayne Island.

Seems like it never ends.

A 1920s postcard shows lush Belle Isle, early Rivo Alto, Fisher’s Flamingo Hotel

A 1920s view of Belle Isle facing east.

Belle Isle is the only “natural” island on the Venetian Causeway. We know the other Venetian Islands — Rivo Alto, DiLido, San Marino, San Marco and Biscayne — were dredged, filled and linked with the roadway between 1923 and 1926.

Our latest postcard find (thanks, eBay!) shows Rivo Alto in the foreground, Belle Isle, and the western edge of Miami Beach with Carl Fisher’s classic Flamingo Hotel.

You can see that most of Rivo Alto is open space, though the streets and a couple of homes have been built.

This photo shows the Joseph Adams and J.C. Penney estates.

Compare the postcard view to the above early 1930s photo of Belle Isle, taken from the north facing south, which also shows the Flamingo.  This is from the Florida Memory Project, subject of an earlier blog post.

Finally, here’s a 1923 photo from east to west that shows Miami Beach, Belle Isle, and a sandy and vacant Rivo Alto as the only island along the Venetian Causeway path.

!923 photograph shows view to Miami across Venetian Causeway.

Venetian Causeway construction won’t be done til mid September — hopefully

Work undone includes leveling pavement with sidewalks and curbs and finishing medians.

The reconstruction of the historic Venetian Causeway — with wider sidewalks, pink crosswalks, vintage light posts, better drainage and repaving — is eight months behind schedule, and counting.

If you live on the Venetian, you know the route between mainland Miami and Miami Beach has been an obstacle course of lane changes and uneven pavement. You’ve cringed as your car shuddered over uneven crosswalks and elevated manhole covers.

When Venetian homeowners met with the Miami-Dade Public Works officials in late May, the official word was that work would be done by late July, barring surprises and bad weather.

Now, the timetable is mid-September, Miami-Dade County says.

“Weather delays and unexpected conflicts have pushed the substantial completion of the project,” said Francisco Calderon, communications manager for the Miami-Dade Public Works and Waste Management Division.

There is some progress. Landscaping is being installed in some median areas (on Belle Isle, for instance), Calderon said.

“Additionally, some concrete islands and sidewalks are currently under construction, and streetlight activities (installation of conduit and pull boxes) are in progress.”

But there is a fairly substantial list of items to be completed in the next six weeks, the county says, including:

– The irrigation system for the landscaping.

– Final sidewalk and concrete island work.

– Removal of the tall, old metal street lights that are being replaced by the new (old-looking) lights.

– Final layers of asphalt and pavement marking and signs.

– Odds and ends.

Calderon said people should know that some of the ongoing work on Biscayne and San Marco islands in Miami is not being done by the county and is on a different timeline.

“The city of Miami is currently constructing a stormwater pump station and related piping on San Marco Island. Additionally, the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department is installing water piping and street lights on North Venetian Dr. in Biscayne Island.”

 

With Venetian Causeway delays, island streetscape project falls behind

The delays in completing the Venetian Causeway construction project — now expected to be done at the end of July — mean that work on sidewalk, lighting and landscaping upgrades on the Venetian Isles won’t be begin until about November, according to the city of Miami Beach.

The causeway reconstruction project, which includes wider sidewalks, drainage, lighting and crosswalks on the historic route between Miami and Miami Beach, is about seven months behind schedule due to an array of construction problems, ranging from rain delays to difficulties with underground utilities.

The original budget for the Streetscape project for Rivo Alto, DiLido and San Marino isles was $7.8 million. But moving underground water and sewer lines to make way for the Venetian work cost the city about $1 million.

Right now, the county expects to complete the work on the Venetian by the end of July. The city of Miami Beach is planning to invite bids on the island streetscape work on June 1, said Fernando Vazquez, Miami Beach’s director of capital improvements.

Typically, that is a 45-60 day process. If all goes well, the city would follow up with notices to proceed, and work could start sometime around November, Vazquez told homeowners at a meeting last week.

The capital improvement department will ask for another $1 million during the city’s capital improvement budgeting process, which happens in July.

At a meeting with Venetian Causeway Homeowner Association members, Vazquez said he will let VIHA members know when the City Commission meets on the capital money so they can urge that commissioners approve the additional funds.

During Urban Weekend, cops will be nearly everywhere on Venetian Causeway

The Venetian Islands will have cops on almost every corner during Memorial Day weekend, with signs warning drivers the Venetian Causeway is for locals only, Miami Beach Police told island homeowners on Wednesday.

Miami Beach’s new police chief, Ray Martinez, and his top leadership outlined the unprecedented police presence at a meeting at the Miami Beach Garden Center.

“What we have done for you on the Venetian Islands is very unique,” said Capt. Henry Doce. “You guys will notice that you can move around….but tourists will be given the impression that they can’t get in.”

There will be barricades at each island entrance at the causeway, and either a Miami Beach police officer or security alliance member will be stationed on each island, Doce said.

The traffic control strategy will severely restrict entry to Miami Beach on the MacArthur, Julia Tuttle and Venetian causeways on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, Doce said.

Each night,  eastbound traffic from Miami on the MacArthur and the Tuttle  will be squeezed from three lanes to one, Doce said. License tag scanners will be used to check for drivers with outstanding arrest warrants. On the MacArthur on Friday night, police will operate a DUI checkpoint.

On the Venetian, signs on the mainland Miami and Miami Beach entrances will warn the passage is for local residents only. A Miami police officer will be stationed near the causeway entrance, police lights blazing, to discourage non-residents. The barricades and police presence will discourage non-residents from leaving the main causeway for the islands.

One resident asked Doce what Venetian residents should tell guests visiting their homes during the weekend. “Make sure they know your address,” Doce said.

Michael Bauman, who oversees the Venetian Causeway for Miami-Dade Public Works, said Miami Beach asked permission to close the Venetian to non-resident traffic, but they county could not allow it.

“We operate a county roadway and it is open to everyone all the time,” Bauman said. “We won’t be restricting access….the policies the police department has in place are voluntary policies.”

A resident asked Bauman if all six causeway toll lanes (three east and three west) would be staffed at all times. He said staffing will be increased, but he could not commit to all the lanes being open for the entire weekend.

“We will do our best to staff all lanes. It’s part of our plan,” he said.

Miami-Dade County: Venetian Causeway construction should be done by July

Miami-Dade construction chief Bassam Moubayed explains problems with Venetian Causeway construction.

The long, painful reconstruction of the Venetian Causeway — with its erratic lane shifts, jarring bumps, cyclist and pedestrian hazards — should be complete by the end of July, Miami-Dade’s County Public Works Department construction chief said Wednesday night.

“By July, it should be done,” Bassam Moubayed told impatient members of the Venetian Isle Residents Association. Being done means a final layer of pavement in place, flush with the pink crosswalks and manhole covers.

Unless there is lots of rain, Moubayed said. That could delay completion of the project, which is already nearly five months behind schedule.

“Pray for dry weather,” said Venetian Isles Residents Association president Greg Carney.

Bad weather is one reason the project — which includes wider sidewalks, new lighting, drainage and crosswalks — is so late. But so are the myriad surprises contractors found while doing the work, Moubayed said, like electric and gas lines in different places from shown on plans.

When the causeway work is complete, the city of Miami Beach will begin work on the individual Venetian Islands, installing new drains, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

Venetian water lines repaired; boil water order in effect until Friday.

Residents of Rivo Alto, DiLido, San Marino, Palm and Hibiscus islands are under a precautionary boil water order until Friday as result of damaged caused by a Venetian Causeway construction crew.

The boil water order does not include Belle Isle.

The water line was repaired early Wednesday after being damaged on Tuesday and disrupting water service.